AlexPGP's Corner

Generally, the first thing that pops into one's mind when one wants to complain is... to complain!

And there are many instances when this is the proper, and likely the only, thing to do.

However, complaining is tricky when the entity you're complaining to is a client.

So I basically sit on any such complaints for a good while, which generally ends up with my not delivering them. ("A good while" is, of course, a relative term... I thought about the complaint that prompted this post for perhaps as long as 30 seconds before deciding it wasn't worth pursuing.)

For example, a little while ago, I was thinking of mentioning to my French client that they ought to make sure that source files are properly rendered before sending them to me (here I had in mind yesterday's little imbroglio with the strangely fonted source file), but in the end, rather than convey the idea that I wasn't equipped to handle such glitches, or that I was deveoping into a prima donna freelancer, I deleted the sentence and went on with my life.

What's worse, even completely innocent remarks can sometimes be interpreted as complaints. My most famous instance was the time, early in my translation career, when I wrote, "This was a very challenging document to translate" in an email cover note. I later found out that the project manager took this as me saying that I was in over my head, and for that reason, I lost out on a number of subsequent assignments.

As I said, though, there are exceptions. Some time ago, a client sent an assignment in which over half the pages were handwritten reports by several doctors, mostly illegible. As I was not prepared to spend many hours trying to decipher such scribblings, I did raise the issue with the client, and ultimately, never got the job. But as the issue was raised with full consciousness of the possible loss of work, I have no regrets.

Ho-kay! The translation plate is officially cleared, with all files sent to clients, and I have no upcoming interpretation assignments (though I expect a call this afternoon).

(Actually, that's not the case: I have a 10-page contract to translate for Sunday! But a fella can dream, can't he?)

Cheers...

I was just doing an electronic "rummage" through some document files in PaperPort, when my eye ran across one item, something commonly called an "attaboy," written by one of the ILS managers during a past campaign.

The general rule of thumb for freelancers is: The more 'attaboys', the better. (Heck, the same rule applies to anyone who works, though I suppose women collect 'attagirls'.)

Why are more better? Because the other general rule of thumb is: One screwup cancels 100 attaboys.

The reason I bring this up at all is that during a later campaign, when a different ILS manager was waxing eloquent about what a great job we interpreters were doing, I gently hinted that it would be really cool if he'd put what he'd just said down on paper and give us a copy. He turned his gaze on me, all businesslike now, and said, "You don't need a copy of what I just said," adding that the person who did need it was the ILS interpretation manager back in McLean, who was the person that made campaign assignments. This was, I suppose, his way of assuring us that said manager would be duly informed of our stellar effort. I understood the subject to be closed.

Since then, Lockheed has sold its share in ILS, and some changes have been made at the new ILS. For one thing, U.S.-based interpreters are not being used any more for launch campaigns; for another, in-house staff has been trimmed. Indeed, one of the first people to go was... that very same interpretation manager.

Cheers...